South Korea's Samsung at work on 5G mobile network technology

SEOUL, May 13 (UPI) -- South Korea's Samsung says it's working on new mobile data transfer technology that's potentially up to "several hundred times" faster than current 4G networks.

Specifics of Samsung's new 5G technology, which the company said it plans to commercialize by 2020, are as yet unknown as 5G is currently not a defined set of standards so much as a loose proposal of what the next technological leap over 4G would consist of, Mashable reported Monday.

Samsung has said that in testing it managed to transmit data at a a mile and a quarter.

The company says 5G would facilitate mobile transmission of "massive" data files such as high-definition movies, "practically without limitation."

Samsung is not alone in pursuing the next speed level in mobile networks; China set up a 5G research group in early 2012, and the European Unions has earmarked $65 million bring 5G to market by 2020.

While 5G research in under way, 4G is still being rolled out in stages by many wireless providers and a number of mobile carriers still offer 3G networks.

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